Alcatel Vision goes smartphone-free for VR assault

Out of nowhere, Alcatel (yes, Alcatel), has come up with a potential Oculus Rift rival by way of the Alcatel Vision.

We must admit that, when we first learned the Chinese-owned mobile brand was joining the VR party, we thought it would be yet another smartphone-powered headset to add to the pile.

Not so, though. The Alcatel Vision is a standalone device, packing its own visuals and engine room. It boasts dual 3.8-inch AMOLED displays (1080p for each eye), 120-degree visuals, and is powered by an octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM.

There's 32GB of storage and connectivity includes Bluetooth, LTE, Wi-Fi. The Alcatel Vision is also wire-free - there's a 3,000mAh battery on board that will get you 2-3 hours of gameplay.

Battery powered, 120 degrees and cellular connected? Take that Oculus, HTC and co.

Don't get too excited though, it obviously doesn't have the heavyweight VR titles that Rift and Vive can provide. However, Alcatel is teaming up with the likes of Jaunt VR, Magic Interactive Entertainment and Fraunhofer to provide preloaded content.

It's not clear exactly how you'll access VR experiences and games on the Vision - presumably there will be some sort of 'Home' area.

Alcatel also wants you to create your own VR content with the new Alcatel 360 Camera duo that have also just been announced. Both devices, one square, one round (same specs, we're told), plug directly into the Micro USB port of an Alcatel Idol handset for 360-degree shooting.

On paper, this all sounds very exciting. And, with Alcatel's history of launching 'cheap' devices, surely we're in-line for a budget headset to take on the VR heavy hitters?

Not so, apparently. We're hearing whispers of a $600 price tag for the headset. Ouch indeed. We've asked Alcatel for clarification on that, as well as a launch date - so check back for updates.